Bidding My Life Away

Sydnee Gaudino is 17 years old. She lives in Buffalo, New York, just like thousands of other teenagers. When she turns 16, the Wealth academy decides if she's pretty enough to go through the auction, which is a privilege. And when she turns 18, she has to be auctioned off to a guy, just like every other girl. If she's lucky, a caring, young man will buy her, who won't treat her like a slave.

2. The Auction

I woke up the following morning to the smell of bacon coming from the kitchen. I shouted, "Al? Are you making breakfast?" "Yeah!" she called back excitedly, "Today's a great day, so I made a great breakfast to go with it."

Walking into the kitchen, I saw that I was just on time. The bacon, eggs, and toast were ready.

"Why are you so happy?" I said, yawning.

She turned around and smiled at me, "I finally get to leave, Syd! No more mean girls or Adrienne. No more classes. We can just live." She turned back around happily and handed me a plate with two strips of bacon, an egg, and a piece of toast. She hummed happily as she made a plate for herself.

After we ate, we were to spend the rest of the day getting ready for the auction. Adrienne was still asleep, so Alex curled my caramel hair. Then I curled her red hair, which took about two hours each. We did our make up and then put on our outfits. My red dress was accompanied by the diamond necklace Adrienne bought me, and nude pumps that I had mastered to walk in in school. Alex wore cowgirl boots with her outfit, and no jewelry. By the time we were ready, Adrienne was jus getting up. When she saw us, she was furious.

"Why didn't you guys wake me up? I know I was drunk last night, but still. There's only an hour before we have to be at rehearsal," Adrienne pouted, moving quickly around to gather her things. "Now I'll only half time to do soft curls."

Alex ignored her, "Syd and I are going to grab a bite to eat before the auction. We'll come back afterwards to pick you up."

"Whatever, Al. See you b*tches later," Adrienne said, blowing us a kiss. She scurried off to the bath room, slamming the door.

After a short lunch, we returned home to find Adrienne, looking gorgeous as ever. Her blonde hair was curled to perfection. Her nails were painted and she was wearing open toe silver heels. Her pink dress made her look like a goddess. Her make up was perfect, just like always.

Alex glared at her, then turned on heel and walked back to the car.

Adrienne snorted a laugh, "What's her problem?"

I shrugged, saying, "Let's just go. I want to spend a great five minutes with you two before we have to go."

Adrienne laughed again, then said, "Oh Syd. You were always a softie. Let's just go so I can find a man."

We made our way to Alex's car. She was sitting in the driver's seat, her music up loud. She didn't acknowledge Adrienne or me. Once we were settled in, Alex sped off in the direction of the auction house.

As soon as we got to the building, Adrienne faced both of us, grabbing our shoulders. "Girls, I love you and I'm so proud. But, I want to this to be short and sweet so I don't mess up my make up. Good bye, I wish you girls luck with getting a smokin' hot man," Adrienne said, kissing us both on the cheeks. "I'm going to say goodbye to everyone else." And with that, she walked away, fluffing up her blonde hair.

Alex blew out a sigh and hugged me. "Syd, I love you. As soon as your man allows, will you text me? Let me know you're okay? I'll text you as soon as possible."

"Al, I promise I'll call you asap. And I love you too. Good luck, I hope a nice man buys you," I said, holding her close.

"You too," she said, holding back tears.

Miss Irvin's voice came on over the loud speaker, saying, "Attention girls! Please, go to the room you were assigned to. The auctions start in 15 minutes! Good luck to everyone."

With one last, tight squeeze, I said goodbye and made my way to auction room 241. The woman in there had on long gold dress with one slit going up her right leg. It stopped right where her underwear started. She had short blonde poker straight hair and straight across bangs.

Once all 20 of us were in the room, the woman said, "Alright ladies. Here's the deal. You've all been assigned a number. When your number and named is called, you walk on stage and do a little twirl or whatever you want to do. Then the bidding starts. The men bid, whoever wins you, you go with immediately. No fighting or fussing. Good luck to all of you."

Before we knew it, the bidding started. I was number 8, so I had to wait awhile.

"And now introducing Sydnee Gaudino, number 8."

I walked onto the stage, just like we were taught to. I twirled around, doing a sexy wink that Miss Irvin told me I was good at. Then I walked to the center surveying the crowd. A young looking man in the back caught my eye. He had brown hair that was combed back with jell. He had some slight stubble, which was surprisingly sexy. He was wearing a white button up shirt with a black bowtie. He was examining me, and it made me feel queasy.

At first, the bidding was between five guys, not including the gorgeous guy in the back. Then slowly, it diminished down to two guys and then one, at $12,500. He looked to be in his thirties. I grimaced, thinking about spending a life with him.

The auctioneer said "$13,000? Going once, going twice-"

He was interrupted by a voice in the back. "$20,000," the gorgeous guy in the back said, looking at me again.

The auctioneer said, "$20,000? Going once, going twice, sold to the young man in the back!"